Foodpanda hires Gautam Balijepalli as Head of Strategy

Online marketplace for food delivery Foodpanda on Tuesday announced appointment of Gautam Balijepalli as their Head of Strategy.

In the new role, Gautam will directly work with the CEO and leadership team to lay out a strong strategic direction in sync with the organisation's business objectives. This newly created role at Foodpanda is envisioned to effectively synergise with the food tech ecosystem for a unified approach towards creating the best in class offerings for partner restaurants and consumers.

Gautam was earlier a Venture Capital Investor at Ojas Ventures where he invested in a number of companies and helped them scale through active Board-level involvement.

An alumnus of IIT Chennai and London Business School, Gautam joins the team with a strong entrepreneurial background having co-founded CartPerk Technologies. He has also been an investor and mentor to businesses, such as WarmOven, in the food space.

"With Gautam coming on board, we intend to bring pertinent changes in our strategic direction and create the right intervention points for the industry to innovate and grow. His professional experience and industry knowledge will be great sources of insights for the goals we have set out to achieve for restaurant partners, delivery riders and consumers. His addition to the team is a step towards building a strong food tech ecosystem in the country," said CEO Foodpanda India, Pranay Jivrajka.

"The food tech industry is rapidly changing globally. With 1.3 billion people and only two percent of total food orders placed online, India is a market with massive potential. With that context, leveraging best practices will be our top priority to create value for all stakeholders, including consumers and restaurant partners. It is an exciting time for Foodpanda India and I look forward to working with Pranay and the team to drive significant value in this growing industry," said Gautam on his appointment.

Foodpanda aims to capitalize on the growth opportunities through deep partnerships with key restaurants and cloud kitchens and by expanding its delivery network. With recent funds allocation, Foodpanda is working on building a seamless experience for all its stakeholders - partner restaurants, riders, and end consumers - and creating a significant long-term business value.